NEILSON’S COLUMN (August 27, 2015): Did I suffer for my art after a rather painful cricket match?

I say ‘quiet’, but of course there is planning to be done for the new academic year, plays and scripts to read, artistic ideas to be discussed and classes to be organised, so not a total rest, but good enough.

It has also been an extremely quiet month for me on the cricketing front, not through lack of interest but due to injury.

I was playing at a ground near Dorking and fielding quite a long way out, minding my own business, as you do.

Suddenly, I saw the batsman hit the ball way up into the sky.

“I can catch this,” I thought to myself as I ran towards it.

From the corner of my eye, I could see a team mate running for the same ball.

I wasn’t distracted, but maybe I took my eye off the ball for a split second.

I heard the familiar shout of “catch it” and it was then that I realised I was about a yard short of where I needed to be. So instead of getting both hands under the ball, I stretched out my left hand while still running...but I couldn’t hold on to it.

The ball was coming down at such speed that it continued it’s trajectory through my fingers and split the webbing between the first and second finger.

“Crikey,” I said as I looked down at my numb hand to see the damage. “That stung a bit.”

I didn’t actually use those words, but I can’t print what I did say.

I left the field and drove myself to hospital where a very friendly nurse, after grimacing at the sight, glued and taped my split hand together.

Now all this was not really a problem, until I had to go to a casting for a TV commercial.

At such castings, you stand in front of a camera and give your name, agent and details of any commercials you’ve been in recently. Next, you show your left and right profiles and...your hands!

Mine didn’t look too pretty all taped-up and glued so I took the tape off and had to cope with the pain of moveable fingers until the casting was over.

Does that count as suffering for your art?

Probably not.

Follow Michael Neilson on Twitter @michael_neilson.

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